A man looks at jackets and hoodies made from hemp at the "Capitol Hemp" store on May 20, 2010 in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C. A state Assembly panel has approved a bill that would allow growing hemp in New Jersey.
( Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images)

TRENTON — George Washington, who famously crossed the Delaware to Trenton, grew hemp on his estate in Virginia. Now a Trenton lawmaker wants to follow his example and legalize growing the plant in New Jersey.

The state Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee today voted 3-1 to approve a bill (A2415) that would create an industrial hemp license to regulate the “planting, growing, harvesting, possessing, processing, selling and buying” of the crop.

“It was used in colonial times up until the 1930s,” said Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer), the bill’s sponsor. “It’s one of the most versatile plants. You can make clothing out of it. It’s used in cooking.”

There is a catch to the bill, however. Federal law bans growing hemp, which is a type of cannabis, and no licenses would be issued until the federal government legalizes it. It is legal to buy and sell hemp, but Michael Chazukow, owner of the store Hemp Heaven in Morris Plains, told the committee that retailers have to get the raw materials from other countries.

“There’s absolutely no risk in the creation of the industrial-domestic hemp market,” Chazukow said.

Chazukow said 30 countries allow the cultivation of industrial hemp.

Although hemp and marijuana are both varieties of cannabis, hemp has an extremely small quantity of THC, the psychoactive ingredient marijuana that produces a “high.” While marijuana is generally used recreationally or medicinally, it’s impossible to smoke enough hemp to produce a high. It is used for many physical products including clothing, paper and oil.

Eight states have laws regulating industrial hemp, according to the National Conference of State Legislature.

Gusciora, the bill’s sponsor, is a municipal prosecutor in three New Jersey towns. He was one of the leading lawmakers in the successful effort to legalize medical marijuana in New Jersey. Gusciora also sponsored a bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana that passed the Assembly but was not taken up in the state Senate.

Gusciora compared his effort on legalizing hemp to the state’s fight to allow sports betting, which is also against federal law.

“We’re in effect putting the federal government on notice that we’re interested in it,” Gusciora said.